Police submit report on Mardan university lynching to Supreme Court

Mardan Regional Police Officer (RPO) Alam Khan Shinwari submitted a report on the murder of Mashal Khan, a 23-year-old student who was attacked by a vigilante mob after being accused of blasphemy on April 13, to the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

According to the report, the administration of Abdul Wali Khan University — where Mashal was a student and where the incident took place — had not informed police about the incident but had only asked them to come to the campus.

The police were contacted at 12:52pm by university administration, the report said.

When Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Haider Khan arrived at the university campus, Abdullah, Mashal’s friend who was also accused of blasphemy, was being attacked by the mob, the report said.

The DSP saved Abdullah from the enraged mob, it added.

Police have obtained CCTV footage of last week’s incident and a record of the DSP’s calling data, the report said, and have included university faculty and administration in its investigation.

Abdullah’s testimony

The report submitted before the Supreme Court also included a written testimony from Abdullah, in which he alleged that university officials were involved in Mashal’s murder.

A day earlier, Abdullah had voluntary contacted the police and recorded his testimony before a judicial magistrate.

In his testimony, Abdullah had denied all allegations of blasphemy against him.

Students who had accused Abdullah of blasphemy had tried to coerce him into testifying that Mashal had committed blasphemy but he had refused to do so, he claimed.

Abdullah in his testimony added that on the day of the incident, the university was conducting an inquiry into Mashal Khan regarding allegations of blasphemy.

Source: Dawn